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SPEECH 



BY 



YELLOTT, 



BEFORE A MEETING OF THE CITIZENS OF YORK COUNTY, PENNSYL- 
VANIA, CONVENED WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF PARTY, TO 
EXPRESS THEIR APPROBATION OF THE 

COMPROMISE MEASURES 

Passed by Congress in September, 1S50* 

Delivered on the evening of January 7tk, 1851, at the Court House 

in York. 

Fellow-Countrymen: I am a Southern man, and you are 
Northern men. But I am an American citizen, and you are 
American citizens. We have still one common country, — one 
common government, — one common flag waving over us ! Thank 
God ! we are still fellow-countrymen. And 1 am here to-night, 
(under the invitation of your committee,) to speak, not as a Mary- 
lander to Pennsylvanians — not as a Southern man to Northern 
men, but as an American to speak to American citizens. 

Yesterday, I came from my home in Maryland. I crossed the 
statutory line which divides my State from yours — the South from 
the North; but I noticed not when or where I passed it! I savir 
no change either in the character of the country, or of those by 
whom it is inhabited. Along the whole route, I saw men of the 
same blood — countrymen — brothers — sprung from a common 
stock, — and whose ancestors had battled, side by side, under the 
same glorious stars and stripes, upon many a well-fought field. 
I saw men who claim as a common inheritance the glories of Sara- 
toga and Yorktown, Lundy's Lane and New Orleans, Buena Vista 
and Chepultepec! And I said to myself, "let them ever remain 
thus peaceful, thus united ; and whom God has thus joined too-e- 
ther, let no man put asunder I" 

There was a time, — not more than ten years ago, — when no man 
could be lound in any quarter of our glorious Republic, bold 
enough, mad enough, bad enough, to dare, seriously, to utter above 
his breath the word "Disunion." It was considered the most 
wicked — the foulest word in our whole vocabulary. But times 
have sadly changed for the worse. Not twelve months a^-o, we 
witnessed in the halls of our National Capitol, scenes sickenino- to 
every patriot heart. We heard the forbidden word "Disunion," 
daily repeated by Northern and Southern fanatics, until it had 
become the most common word in our vocabulary. We saw the 
strong pillars of our Government shaken to their deepest founda- 
tions. We saw our gallant ship of State tempest-tost upon a 



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stormy sea,-^the wild waves howling around her, — rocks and shoab 
upon every side, — and breakers ahead. We looked on with fear 
and anxiety, — and every man trembled for the result, while many 
abandoned themselves to despair. But, after a time, we saw skill- 
ful and patriotic pilots spring to the helm, — and, by their noble 
exertions, the gallant ship outrode the storm and all the dangers 
which beset her ; and was at last moored in a calm and safe haven ! 
A nation's thanks are due to those by v/hose almost superhuman 
efforts she was saved; and no true American can repeat without 
pride and gratitude the names of the gallant Harry of the West, 
the sage and patriotic Cass, the mighty Daniel of the North, the 
devoted and chivahic Foote ! 

I say the gallant old ship was moored in a haven of safety; — and 
every lover of his country fondly hoped that she would be per- 
mitted there to remain. But alas ! we now find agitators, — fanatics 
at the North and at the South, — who loudly demand that she shall 
be again unmoored, and launched once more, freighted with all 
that is valuable and all that is dear to us, upon an unknown and 
tempestuous sea. It is to rebuke the mad counsels of such men — 
to show that such counsels meet no response from your bosoms, 
that this meeting has assembled to-night. You have met as Penn- 
sylvanians, to say to your country and to the world — that whatever 
lot others may choose, — that you at least are determined to stand 
by the Union ! — You have met to say, that Pennsylvania, whose 
mountains and vallies have been moistened by the blood of 
revolutionary patriots, — who claims as a part of her own soil the 
sacred fields of Paoli, Germantown, and Valley Forge — that she at 
least will still hold in grateful remembrance the name and deeds of 
the Father of his Country — and will still obey and fulfil his hal- 
lowed precepts. You have met to say, that Pennsylvania, in 
"whose soil are laid the foundations of Independence Hall, where 
the Constitution was formed and the Union was made, that her 
sons are determined still to support that Constitution and maintain 
that Union ! 

Fellow-countrymen ! you and I, and every American citizen 
"with a true American heart in his breast, rejoiced at the passage of 
the acts by Congress, in September last, constituting what is very 
properly called the "Compromise." We rejoiced, because we 
fondly hoped that the passage of these measures would quiet, for 
the present generation at least, all ill-feeling and discord existing 
between the North and the South upon the question of slavery. 
We thought that Compromise was wise, fair and equitable. It has 
become the law of the land. If suffered to remain as it is, — if 
carried into effect by the parties to it, — this Compromise will ac- 
complish the glorious object aimed at by the noble patriots by whom 
it was devised and passed. 

Why should that Compromise be disturbed? What injustice is 
done by it to the North or to the South ? Let us for a moment 
consider the measures which constitute this Compromise. They 
may be stated as follows: 

First. The act establishing the boundary between Texas and 
New Mexico. 

Second The act admitting California as a State, with a provision 
in its constituiion prohibiting slavery. 

Third. The establishment of the territorial governments of New 
Mexico and Utah. 



Fourlh. The act abolishing the slave-trade in the District of 
Columbia. 

Fifth. The act commonly called the fugitive slave bill. 
These are the five measures constituting the Compiomise. 
What one of them does any injustice to the North or to the South? 
Let us see. 

As to the first,— ihe settlement of the Texas boundary,— this 
was neither a Northern or a Southern measure. Northern men 
and Southern men voted for it in about equal numbers. It was a 
jocfflce measure,— calculated to preserve the Republic from internal 
strife. It has answered the purpose for which it was designed, — 
and Northern men and Southern men alike rejoice at the result. 

As to the second, third and fourth of the measures referred to, 
they have been regarded at the South as Northern measures — 
passed to gratify free-soil feeling and to promote Northern interests. 
But what right has the South to complain of the passage of either 
of these measures? 

She has no right to complain of the admission of California as a 
free State into the Union. The people of that territory had met in 
Convention and deliberately formed their constitution, with a pro- 
vision excluding slavery. This they had a right to do. It was 
for them and them alone to frame the plan or constitution of their 
State government. No other State or States,— the people of no 
other State or States,— had a right to dictate the form of a State 
government for the people of California. If the constitution 
adopted by them was "Republican" in its character,— and the Ter- 
ritory possessed the requisite amount of population, — on their ap- 
plication for admission as a State, Congress was bound to admit 
them. This is the doctrine heretofore contended for by the South. 
In all her struggles to resist the application of the unjust and in- 
sulting Wilmot proviso, the general voice of her citizens has been — 
"Let the people of the Territories act for themselves— Do not pro- 
hibit them from holding slaves,— but let them choose whether they 
will have slavery among them or not." J^on-interference has been 
the motto of the South. California, with her anti-slavery consti- 
tution, has been admitted upon this very principle,— and the South 
has no right to complain. If she had been admitted with a consti- 
tution tolerating slavery, what could prevent her citizens from 
meeting in Convention next year or the year after, and striking 
this feature from her constitution ? Once admitted as a State, she 
would have the same ric;ht to amend or change her constitution, as 
any other State of the Union. 

For the same reason, the South has no right to complain of the 
third measure of Compromise,— the organization of the territorial 
governments of Utah and New Mexico. The legislation of Con- 
gress on this subject, expressly recognizes and sanctions the prin- 
ciple that the present and future inhabitants of those Territories 
may enjoy the right of organizing their State governments, with 
or without slavery, as to them may seem best. With such legisla- 
tion the South has no right to quarrel. Southern statesmen are 
chiefly responsible for the acts of the General Government, which 
resulted in the annexation of this territory, and if ''an ordinance 
of Nature," or the "will of God," has prohibited the existence of 
slavery there, it may be the misfortune of the South, but certainly 
is not the fault of the North ! 



The fourth measure of the series, is the abolishment of the 
slave-trade in the District of Columbia. It is my opinion, formed 
upon mature deliberation, that the South has no right to complain 
of this measure. Under the Constitution, Congress had the right 
to enact it, and I can see no injustice which has been done to the 
slaveholding States by its passage. Maryland is a slave State, — 
and yet her Legislature, many years ago, passed an act prohibiting 
any person from bringing within her limits any slave for the pur- 
pose of sale. This act was passed by the representatives of slave- 
holders. They thought it wise, just and proper, — their constitu- 
ents thought so too, — and it remained upon the statute book. 
Now, the act of Congress in reference to the District of Columbia 
is of a character precisely similar. The difference in the two 
cases is, that the legislators who regulate the internal government 
of Maryland are the representatives of a slave State only ; but the 
legislators who regulate the government of the District of Columbia 
are the representatives both o{ free and slave States. The soil of 
the District is common ground; — and something should be yielded 
on both sides in a spirit of compromise. If it was not wrong for 
the Legislature of Maryland to prohibit the existence of the slave- 
trade there, I think it certainly was not wrong for the Congress of 
the United States to prohibit the existence of the slave-trade in the 
District of Columbia. The people of the southern counties of 
Maryland have the most interest in the latter act, and I have yet 
to hear of the first man from that quarter who makes any objection 
to its passage. 

I therefore repeat once more, that the South has no right to 
complain of any of the measures embodied in the Compromise. 

What right has the North to complain; — what injustice has been 
done to her? The only measure of the whole five, which has been 
objected to by any portion of the people of the North, is the act 
providing for the surrendering of fugitive slaves. 

You have no shadow of right to object to the passage of this 
measure. It is your duty and your interest to see that its provi- 
sions are faithfully carried into effect. It only provides for the ful- 
filment of the sacred compact of the Constitution by which we 
are united as one pecple. Southern men are bound to obey that 
Constitution, and Northern men have no right to violate it. It 
was solemnly formed, in a spirit of compromise, by our common 
ancestors ; it must be faithfully obeyed by their descendants. In 
no other way can they continue one great Republic, — one peaceful 
and united people. This act, so loudly denounced by the anti- 
slavery fanatics of the North, is nothing more nor less than the 
performance by Congress of a sacred duty enjoined by the Federal 
Constitution. No true American, — no man worthy to live under 
that Constitution, — can be willing to see it violated, either in the 
letter or the spirit; and no such man can, therefore, oppose any 
reasonable objection to the passage of an act like that to which I 
have referred. 

You of the North may regard slavery as a moral sin, and a polit- 
ical evil. You have a right to entertain that opinion — and you 
have a right to prohibit the existence of slavery in your States. 
We do not censure you either for your opinions on this subject, or 
for the anti-slavery features of your State constitutions. But while 
we concede this right of free-thought and free-action to you, we 
claim the same privilege for ourselves. There was a time when 



slavery was recognized and sanctioned by the constitution of Penn- 
sylvania, and of almost every other northern State. The South 
then respected your rights ; — and, under the provisions of the Fed- 
eral Constitution, your fugitive slaves found among us were deliv- 
ered up to their owners. You have seen proper to abolish slavery 
at the North, — while at the South it still exists. Now all that^we 
ask of you is, that you shall do for us what we have done for you, — ■ 
that you shall respect our rights as we have respected yours, — that 
you shall do your duty as we have done ours, — that you shall obey 
and perform the compromises of the Constitution as we have obr 
served and performed them. What right have you to refuse to 
perform your part of the compact? 

Do you regard slavery as a violation of the law of Nature — a 
moral sin ? The Jews, — the chosen people of God, — did not so re- 
gard it. Ancient Greece, — the land of Liberty, — did not so regard 
it. Rome, — in her palmiest days, — when her Eagle was the ban- 
ner-bird of the greatest of ancient Republics, — did not so regard it. 
In Judea, Greece, and Rome, slavery existed under the sanction of 
their laws. Your own ancestors, — a single generation back, — did 
not so regard it — for thousands of slaves — not fugitives — have trod 
the soil of Pennsylvania! 

You may conscientiously believe that slavery is a sin and a polit- 
ical evil ; — but still you have no right to quarrel with us if we 
should hold a different opinion. If it be a sin, it is one for which 
we are alone responsible — to our own consciences and to our God ! 
You are not responsible for the sin, or liable for its punishment. 
If it be a social or political evil, we, among whom it exists, are the 
parties who suffer from the evil; — and it is for us to abolish it 
whenever we may think it expedient so to do. It is a matter 
entirely within the control of our local legislatures — and with which 
you have no more right to interfere than you have to meddle with 
the internal government of France, Russia or Prussia. 

What would be the consequences if a different rule of action 
should be observed: Each State of the Union might find some- 
thing to object to in the internal government of some sister State; 
and make this an excuse for refusing to fulfil in reference to that 
State the duties enjoined by the common Constitution. 

In Maryland, our laws do not permit ardent spirits to be sold, or 
theatres to be opened on the Sabbath day. In Louisiana, I am in- 
formed, the law permits ardent spirits to be sold and theatres to be 
opened on the Sabbath. Now we might think this law ot Louisiana 
to be immoral and sinful. But would this opinion justify the peo- 
ple of Maryland in abusing and traducing the people of Louisiana? 
Would this opinion justify the State of Maryland in refusin"' to 
perform towards Louisiana the duties enjoined by the Federal Con- 
stitution, — or in nullifying that Constitution ? Certainly not. 

We in Maryland have adopted a law by which a married woman 
is authorized to hold a certain amount of personal property, — the 
earnings of her own industry and enterprize, — separate from her 
husband and free from any liability for his debts. I believe that 
you have no such law in Pennsylvania. I believe that here all 
personal property of the wife, — even the fruits of her own labor or 
enterprize — belongs to the husband, and may be sold by his credi- 
tors to satisfy debts incurred by him. Now we consider that your 
law, in this respect, is unfair and unjust. We think you commit 
a flagrant outrage upon the natural rights of the wife, by making 



6 

her the slave of the husband ! But we have no right to quarrel with 
you for this. We have no right, for this, to refuse to perform to- 
wards Pennsylvania the duties imposed upon our State by the 
National Constitution. 

In like manner, you may think that we in Maryland do wrong to 
tolerate slavery; but ycu have no right, for that reason, to refuse to 
perform towards Maryland the duties imposed upon you by the 
Constitution of the Union. By that Constitution, you are bound 
to obey and perform the provisions of the fugitive slave act. Under 
that Constitution, the North has no right to complain of the passage 
of that act, — the only one of the whole five, which was enacted 
with a view to the protection of Southern lights and interests. 

In this connection, permit me to add another word. The aboli- 
tionists of the North profess to be the greatest //-lenc/* of the slaves 
of the South. They have, in fact, been their worst enemies. 
Twenty years ago, in Maryland, Virginia and other Southern States, 
the expediency and policy of providing by law for a gradual and 
prudent emancipation ot their slaves, was freely and openly 
discussed and considered by many of their most influential states- 
men. It appeared then, that it was more than possible that not 
very many years would pass before Maryland, Virginia and other 
Southern State? would follow the example of Pennsylvania, New 
Jersey and Delaware, by adopting systems for the gradual extinction 
of slavery within their borders, either by emancipation or coloniza- 
tion. But how does the question stand now? The incendiary 
publications of Northern fanatics were sent abroad. They told 
upon the slaves of the South. The Southamption insurrection 
showed to every Southern man that a mine was beneath his feet, 
which might on any night explode, to involve himself and family 
in one common destruction. The chains of the slave were bound 
more closely around him; — and it became to be regarded among 
Southern men as almost treason to utter the word "emancipation." 
The success of that cause, — once seriously considered by Southern 
statesmen, — has been postponed for the present generation at least. 
For this, Northern meddling philanthropists may thank themselves! 
Let them consider this fact, and then calculate the great good their 
efforts have done to the slaves of the South ! 

Fellow-countrymen! this question, so fruitful of discord, so dan- 
gerous to be agitated, was settled for many years to come by the 
action of Congress in September last. That action should be satis- 
factory to the South and to the North. No injustice has been done 
to either, and neither has a right to complain. Shall that Compro- 
mise be disturbed? Fanatics at the far South and the extreme 
North answer "aye!" "Agitation" is their motto and watchword. 
Thank Heaven ! such sentiments meet no response from the bosoms 
of Marylanders and Pennsylvanians ! The citizens of both my 
State and yours have ever been upon the side of their country. 
Whenever and wherever the cause of that country required their 
aid, they have been found, like brothers, standing shoulder to 
shoulder beneath her glorious stars and stripes ! 

In the struggle for Independence, — those times "which tried 
men's souls," — when the capitol of your State was in danger, Mary- 
landers were among the first to rush forward in her defence; and 
Maryland blood was freely poured out upon the memorable field of 
Brandy wine ! In later times, when Baltimore was menaced by a 
powerful and exulting foe, Pennsylvanians gallantly rushed forward 



in her defence. A noble band.-from your own town.-were 
found in the thickest of the fight upon the well contested and glo- 
lious field of North Point; and the gallant deeds of Captain Span- 
ker's York volunteers are still held in gratetul remembrance by 
every citizen of Maryland! Yes. in seventy-six, in the struggles 
of eighteen hundred and twelve, in the late contest with Mexico, 
on ev^ery field where danger was to be met, or victory to be won, 
Marvlanders and Pennsylvanians were found gathered together as 
one people under the glorious banner of their common country. 

Thus let It ever be. We are now one people ; we wish to re- 
main so. Whatever may be the counsels and purposes of others, 
Maryland and Pennsylvania are determined to stand where they 
have ever stood, on the side of their country and the Union. 
Thank God'— neither Northern or Southern fanatics have been able 
to sow the seeds of discord among u.. Thank God '.-the air of my 
State and of yours is too pure for traitors to breathe ! 

Dissolution of the Union ! Have those who serious y talk of it 
ever considered the awful, the inevitable consequences? We hear 
them speaking of a peaceful dissolution. Such a thing can never 
be Let us once divide upon this question,— one appealing to the 
fiercest prejudices of our nature.-and there can be no peace be- 
tween us. Let us calmly reflect for \ ""«';^"^-J^^ "^ J"^"!!:" 
what will be the situation of the North, and what of the South, 
should they divide upon this question? • , •, „„.,i 

The North would recognize slavery only as a social evil, a moral 
sin a violation of the laws of Nature. The South would continue, 
as she now does, to regard the title of the master to his slave as 
clear as inviolable, and as sacred as his title to his horse, h,s cow 
or his farm. Upon this question they separate. Let me ask, it 
they should thus separate, would there be could there be, any 
treaty between this Northern RepubUc,and this Southern Republic, 
in reference to the surrender by the former of the fug.tiv-e slaves 
belonging to the latter? Surely not. If the right of the South to 
have her fucritive slaves delivered up is not recognized now, when 
we are one^'people, it would certainly form no part of a treaty be- 
tween the two Republics after we had separated upon this very 
question. What then would be the consequence "ow long 
2ould these two Republics remain at peace? How long could the 
zealous philanthropists of the North abstain from rneddlmg with 
the slaves belonging to a neighboring Republic? What w-ould be 
the result? We are on the borders. No broad river— no Chinese 
wall divides my State from yours. How would we stand if por- 
tions of two separate nations? Let us see. To-day a slave belong- 
ine to a citizen of Baltimore county, in Maryland, escapes into 
York county, in Pennsylvania, The master and a party of friends 
pursue him. They are resisted by the citizens of your county, 
who harbor and protect the slave. Unable to recover their pro- 
nertv the Southern band, maddened by the insult and injury they 
have 'received, lesort to acts of retaliation— the smoke and flames 
of your dwellings ascend to heaven,— and the blood of your wives 
and daughters redden your soil! On the next day, the friends of 
those who have been thus injured by the Southerners, issue forth 
to wreak vengeance upon those who have done the deed. They 
cross the line— and soon the smoke and flames of our dwellings are 
seen and the blood of our wives and daughters redden our soil! 
This'is no fancy sketch. Let the Union be divided upon this ques- 



8 

tion, — and the scenes which I have attempted to picture will be of 
daily occurrence. The forays upon the "Scottish border" will 
shrink into insignificance when compared to those which will be 
daily witnessed along Mason's and Dixon's Line. 

Dissolve the Union ! The thought is sickening to every honest 
American heart! How shall it be done? How shall we divide 
the Army? How the Navy ? How shall we divide the glorious 
banner of stars and stripes first unfurled by the Father of his 
Country ? How shall we divide the noble deeds and glorious 
names of our common ancestors? Shall we of the South be per- 
mitted no longer to claim as countrymen — Warren, Putnam, Han- 
cock and Franklin ? Shall you of the North be permitted no 
longer to claim as countrymen — Marion, Howard, Henry, Madison, 
Jefferson and Washington ? Shall we be permitted no longer to 
visit the scenes of the glorious achievements of our ancestors — 
Saratoga, Monmouth and Germantown ! Shall you be permitted 
no longer to visit the scenes of the glorious achievements of your 
ancestors — Eutaw, Cowpens and Yorktown ? Shall we be denied 
the privilege of making our annual pilgrimages to the sacred pre- 
cincts of Independence Hall — there to rekindle the fires of our 
patriotism? And shall you be denied the privilege of making your 
pilgrimages of patriotic devotion to the tomb of the Father of 
his country — amid the groves of his own loved Mount Vernon? 
Heaven forbid ! Such things cannot, must not, will not be. God 
has decreed that we shall remain one great, free, peaceful, united 
people! The folly and the madness of his creatures cannot pre- 
vent the fulfilment of His solemn decree. 

No — let us turn from the contemplation of a picture which can 
never be realized. Let us look at our country as she now is, and 
as she must still remain. Behold how she stands among the nations 
of the earth — "the land of the free and the home of the brave" — 
the asylum of the oppressed of every clime. Behold her com- 
merce whitening every sea, — her flag floating upon every shore, — 
her name known, and her power respected by all nations — peace 
smiling upon her mountains and her vallies — plenty and prosperity 
throughout all her borders! Thus behold her! and then offer grate- 
ful thanks to God, that we are able still to say "we are American 
citizens !" 

In ancient times, when the eagle of the Roman Republic had 
been borne triumphantly over the then civilized world, it was at 
once a source of pride and a talismanic word of protection from 
insult and injury, for any individual to say "I am a Roman citizen!" 
So in our days, when the name of our Republic is known through- 
out the world, — when her character is admired, and her power 
respected by every people — it is a glorious privilege for any man 
to be able truthfully to say, "I am an American citizen." Thus 
let it ever be. Let there be no discord among us — let us still re- 
main peaceful, free and united ; so that each one of us, whether 
Irom the North or the South — whether at home or abroad, may be 
able still to say, living or dying, with pride and exultation, and 
with thankfulness to God, "I am an American citizen!" 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




